Rochers De Naye Hike From Montreux, Switzerland

ROCHERS DE NAYE HIKE FROM MONTREUX

In this blog post, I will share with you my experiences on the train from Montreux, and your options for traveling to and from the summit. I’ll also detail what to expect at the summit where there are a restaurant and hotel.

ROCHERS DE NAYE HIKE DETAILS

• Hike Distance: 13km one-way. Probably best to choose either to hike up or down otherwise prepare for 7+ hours of hiking.
• Hike Duration: This depends on whether you hike up, down, or both. It can range from 3-10 hours depending on what you choose. To hike down from Rochers de Naye should take no more than 3 hours.
• Hike Difficulty: Steep but safe and not technical. Some walk through the forest on a dirt trail. 
• Hike Incline: Starting point at Montreux: 396m – Rochers de Naye: 2,042m

HOW TO GET TO ROCHERS DE NAYE

There are several options by which you can reach Rochers de Naye summit. I will outline them below and share with you how I reached the summit.

• How I reached the summit (Catch the train from Montreux Station to Rochers de Naye. The price of the ticket was 17.50 CHF, which is about $16 USD. The train car is quite steep and takes about 45 minutes to transport you from Montreux station to the summit. It drops you right at the door of the restaurant and hotel and there is no walking involved. You literally enjoy the views at the summit without needing to walk more than fifty yards. Here you can use your Swiss Half-Fare Card so you only need to pay half of the ticket price. We caught the last train, which was at 5:17 pm but you should check the current timetable here.
• The other option is to hike to the summit. This would be quite a steep hike with an ascent of more than 1600m throughout the trail. The estimate is that it would take about four hours. We took the trail down and it took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get down. I suggest taking the train up and then hiking down

ROCHERS DE NAYE HIKE: MY EXPERIENCE

It was a bit of a cloudy day but we decided that we would give Rochers de Naye a shot. There was lots of fog clouding out the peaks of all the mountains near Lake Geneva but we’d traveled for an hour to arrive in Montreux so there was no going back now. We grabbed our tickets at Montreux Station after paying $3 for our parking spot nearby the station. The train leaves once every hour to Rochers de Naye so you might want to time your run by checking this schedule.

Once aboard the train, we began chugging up the hill, passing through a few tunnels and grabbing a small slice of view through the forest every few minutes. As we climbed past 1300m the clouds started to thicken and we thought we were done for, destined to be stuck inside a cloud with no views at the summit. 

The cogwheel railway takes you through forests through the mountains on its way up to Rochers-de-Naye at 2042 m.

For the next few hundred meters of the ascent all, we could see was a wall of white. We were a bit disappointed until we came into the station at Rochers de Naye and we were, in fact, above the clouds. Not only were we above the clouds, but they were parting over Lake Geneva. We had lucked out big time and enjoyed the fast pace of the clouds as they constantly swept through in waves across the viewpoint.

Once you reach the hotel and restaurant at the summit of Rochers de Naye, there are lots of things to do. You can explore down either side of the ridge, visit the local Marmots, have a coffee or meal in the restaurant or head up to the absolute top of the summit for the best views of Lake Geneva. 

We decided to head up to the top viewpoint and watch the clouds dance over Lake Geneva. The sun rays at this time were amazing and created all kinds of colors and reflections of the lake. It would be great to be up here at sunset although it is a long walk down in the dark. It’s best to head down before sunset.

From the top, on a clear day, you can see Eiger, the Mont Blanc massif, and Geneva’s famous Jet d’eau fountain.

With the fog increasing and reducing our visibility, we now decided to head back down as it was 7:30 pm. Although there are many signs directing us back to Montreux, we managed to find ourselves in an undesirable route, which was actually meant for the Via Ferrata access. The hike down is 13km and should take no more than 3-4 hours. 

We ended up heading down a number of steep stairways and I honestly have no idea, which way we went although we managed to somehow navigate ourselves back home through the fog and a huge storm that soaked us. Along the way, we followed the red and white arrows, bumped into a mountain goat, and came across some glacial ice…. all while following the train tracks home. I don’t recommend our route home but it was definitely eventful.

THE TRAIN FROM MONTREUX TO ROCHERS DE NAYE

The train departs from Montreux Station and the price of the ticket was 17.50 CHF, which is about $16 USD. The train is quite steep and takes about 45 minutes to transport you from Montreux station to the summit. It drops you right at the door of the restaurant and hotel and there is no walking involved.

You literally enjoy the views at the summit without needing to walk more than fifty yards. Here you can use your Swiss Half-Fare Card so you only need to pay half of the ticket price. We caught the last train, which was at 5:17 pm but you should check the current timetable here.

OPTION 1: Buy the Swiss Half Fare Card: Switzerland trains, buses, and cable cars are EXPENSIVE! I found the best way to get around cheaply was to buy the Swiss Half-Fare Card before I arrived. It gives you 50% off every regular train, bus, and even many cable cars. It only costs $150 USD but pays itself off in just a few days with many train tickets in Switzerland costing close to $100 alone. If you are staying for more than 5 days, I suggest buying the Swiss Half-Fare Card.

OPTION 2: Buy the Swiss Travel Pass: The second option is to get the Swiss Travel Pass, which gives you unlimited train, bus, and (many) cable car rides but it’s pretty expensive at around $100 USD per day so if you don’t travel each day it isn’t worth it.

OPTION 3: Buy the FLEXI Swiss Travel Pass: The final (BEST) option is to get the FLEXI Swiss Travel Pass, which allows you to buy 8 days’ worth of transit but you can choose the night before if you want to activate the next day. That way you don’t need to travel every day to get your money’s worth, you can just activate the FLEXI Swiss Travel Pass on the days when you are doing sizeable transits. My advice is to book the Swiss Half-Fare Card or the FLEXI Swiss Travel Pass in advance before your trip so it’s ready to go when you arrive.

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